A/N: This is an AU of the Rise/Shadow of Kyoshi novels. I'm assuming you are a fan of/have read those.

I'm used to slow-ass burns (absolute crock pot behavior), so this one is going to be a bit more speedier than other stuff I've done (both published and unpublished).

Yun heaved a great sigh of relief as the healing water washed over his frostbitten feet.

He looked around at the other survivors on the ship. All wounded, but thankfully, not dead. The mission had been a success. Well, at least Plan B had been.

The original plan had been to peacefully talk things out with the daofei leader of the "Fifth Nation," Tagaka. Strike a deal, free the hostages. It didn't need to get bloody.

Tagaka, however, had other ideas. She already had plans for betraying Yun, the Avatar, as well as his entourage.

She had laid an ambush for them, at the icy mountain top where they would be signing a treaty. Far away from earth and rock. Cutting off the key resource for him and his master, Jianzhu, and the majority of their entourage.

It was supposed to weaken them, not having any waterbenders to protect themselves around terrain that was advantageous for waterbenders. Only allowed to have two firebenders for any real protection without jeopardizing the negotiations.

It would've worked too, if not for Yun's quick thinking ploy. They had snuck his waterbending master into their group, a man named Amak. They dressed him in Earth Kingdom robes and had him put spidersnake droplets into his eyes so that it'd temporarily change to the color green. Hiding the last remnants of his Water Tribe origin.

The next misstep for Takaga was not checking their gear properly. Small batches of sand were sewn into tiny folds of their clothing. Their snow boots, thick for the snow, were hollowed out in the middle and filled with perfectly bended rocks.

It was certainly not enough to fight a whole army, at least for a typical bender. But between Avatar Yun and his master Jianzhu, it would be easy enough.

The last, and most crucial key ingredient, to the backup plan was Yun's airbending master, Kelsang. He had the hardest task, as he had to follow and oversee everything from the air. All without rest alongside him and his flying Bison. It was a daunting task, as it required him to have to actively bend the clouds around him so he could remain hidden.

This was all so that if anything went south, Kelsang could air drop the real ammunition for the earthbenders. Giant boulders of earth.

From there the stage was set, and Tagaka played her role well. She attempted to kill Amak, but was not fast enough. Yun saw the ice spike ready to piece the man just in time to bend him out of the way with the earth contraband hidden in his clothes.

From there, it all went right. They were able to take out most of Tagaka's men, with Jianzhu taking out all of her ships.

Yun fought Tagaka one on one, his first real fight against an opponent who truly wanted to kill him. He attempted to just disarm her, which was hard considering she had unlimited ammo on the terrain.

The duel finally ended in a fatal blow, a stone spike to her heart. Yun had run up to catch the dying woman, and as she died in his arms she whispered one last attack to him.

"What's the matter, Avatar?" she coughed out blood. "Is earth all you can bend?"

The words pierced him harder than any blows she had been able to land.

She just had to hit me right in the complex huh? Yun laughed bitterly to himself.

Yun was the Avatar. Master of all four elements. But so far, for the past two years, he'd only been able to master one. His birth element, earth. But this was a secret, one that only he and his earth, fire, air, and waterbending masters knew.

He made up for his lack of bending prowess with his diplomatic wits and studies. But even he knew that could only get him so far.

He shoved the negative thoughts to the side, and looked across the room to the two firebenders that braved the journey with him. His firebending master, Hei-Ran, and her daughter and his bodyguard, Rangi.

Rangi turned to him with a fierce look in her eye, and a sullen pout on her lips. She wasn't exactly a fan of her shoes being blown off in the smack dab middle of a snowstorm. She and her mother, however, could keep themselves warm a lot more than the other members of the expedition. All thanks to their firebending.

She pressed a thumb to one side of her nose, and blew out a blotch of blood. It seemed like one of the waterbenders got a solid hit to her face.

Yun gave her a friendly smile and wave, to which Rangi glared at him harder and then looked away. Yun chuckled to himself.

This whole thing was reckless. You're too reckless! And what was that stance you used earlier? It's making the spirits weep! I'm going to give you a crash course in fire academy training when we get back! Yun imitated Rangi's voice in his head. He knew exactly what his friend was thinking.

And while he appreciated her concern, he was not looking forward to the "training" she was about to put him through.

"-and why did you put your foot there of all places?!" Rangi chastised him for the uptheenth time. It'd been like this their whole trip home, ever since they finished receiving healing from the healers.

"Rangi," Yun attempted to sound stern, but some mirth still slipped into his tone, "You aren't my firebending master. You're my bodyguard."

"I can still point out imperfections," Rangi continued, undisturbed, "especially if they are glaringly painful!"

They were marching through the mansion, and she was going to give him a piece of her mind all the way up until his head hit the pillow.

She may have idolized the Avatar and Avatar-hood as a whole, but she was not going to let him slack off in any way.

Yun laughed. Having a pretty girl yell at you wasn't the worst thing in the world. Even if she was the one girl on the estate who didn't fall for his charms. Or the fact that she looked exactly like her mother. The same person who made Yun's life a living hell with her training.

"Quit laughing, this isn't funny! You could've been killed! And then what? Wh-"

Yun was about to laugh again when he felt something shift in the ground ahead of him. A place where no one should be at this time of night. Especially since most of the occupants were still located in the forefront of the mansion.

Yun quickly clamped his palm over Rangi's mouth, quieting her.

"Shhh" he whispered when she gave a muffled protest. "Listen."

There was only silence, but it couldn't fool Yun. The Earth loved him, and it was warning him someone was up ahead.

The two slowly crept through the mansion, until they came by a room. Muffled sounds were coming from it.

It was Kelsang's room. Yun and Rangi crouched on either side of the door.

Yun poked his forefinger into his mouth to wet it, and then poked two holes in the white paper covering the shoji door.

Rangi and Yun peered through the holes, and sure enough someone was there.

For a moment, they both thought it might've been Kelsang, as the figure in the room was almost as big as him. But this figure, though tall, was less broad than him.

An intruder! Rangi's eyes bored into Yun's. Her thoughts feed right into his own.

Let's ambush him on three! Yun glared back at her with determination.

One! The duo stood up.

Two! Yun lightly hugged the wall next to the door frame, preparing to ram it.

Thre-! The wall gave out near Yun, causing his hand to slip and for him to lose balance.

He fell through the sliding door, with Rangi following after him as she tripped over his legs.

It was something so disgraceful, they blanched at the thought of having to ever think or talk about it.

They scrambled, attempting to unlock their limbs from each other and face their intruder.

When they looked up, they were met with a large, ghostly woman, towering over them in the pale moonlight.